The Potters' Curse Part III : The Curse In Reverse
by TheWordsIWrite
Summary: Going into Seventh Year Lily Luna Potter's life seems full of things she doesn't want. A quidditch injury that prevents her from playing, a captainship she doesn't feel she deserves and the pressure to make major life decisions she is certain she is nowhere near qualified to make. And they tell her this is supposed to be the time of her life. (Book 3 of THE POTTERS' CURSE TRILOGY)
1. Chapter 1

**Hey Guys,**

 **It's been forever but I'm back with the third and final book in The Potters' Curse Trilogy. Lily's story will be a bit different than James and Albus'. I'm going for a little more of a serious feel with this one so we'll see how it goes.**

 **ALSO even though this is the third book in the trilogy you DO NOT have to read The Potter's Curse or Escaping the Curse to read this one, but I would appreciate it if you did! Also some references may go over your head. For instance: OCs, relationships and situations in The Potter's Curse or Escaping the Curse that are mentioned here.**

 **Anyways I hope y'all enjoy this first chapter of the Curse in Reverse. Please review because it puts a smile on my face and lets me know you guys like what I'm putting out.**

 **Love,**

 **TheWordsIWrite**

 **Chapter 1**

Lily Luna Potter was used to people talking about her. Her father was the boy who lived. Her mother had been the star chaser for the Holly Head Harpies. Her brother James was the self-proclaimed greatest prankster Hogwarts had seen and her other brother, Albus, was practically a certified genius. Even in her own right Lily was used to the whispers that ran through Hogwarts' halls as she walked by. _"Her first day and_ she has _already hexed_ a fifth _year. I heard he couldn't get his hair back to normal for days."_ They had said first year. Second-year the story of favor was _"She knocked Dolohov clean out. BOOM, one punch and he_ was _down." "First girl keeper since Bellatrix Lestrange. Gryffindor is doomed."_ Her fellow Gryffindors bemoaned and rival houses applauded in her third year. Fourth year it had been her dinner time duel with Tyler Nott. Fifth year it had been the lesbian thing, Merlin knows how that started. And sixth year it was " _The most detentions gathered in a week! She even beat Sirius Black's record"_ and _"Did you hear the howler her mother sent her? I swear you could hear James applauding her in the_ background _."_

Throughout the last six years, Lily had never let any of it touch her. Before, she had been above it. Walking through the halls of Hogwarts, arm, and arm with her trio of best friends, high above the pettiness of it all. Okay, maybe not quite high above it, her countless detentions for physical, verbal and magical altercations proved that. But at least a little above it.

But that was before. Before the end of sixth year. That last damned month of sixth year.

Now, even before she stepped foot on platform nine and three quarters, Lily could hear what people were gonna say.

 _"Best damn keeper since Oliver Wood. Shame that fall she took."_

 _"I hear she fractured three vertebrae in her back and had a major concussion. Won't ever play again."_

 _"Did you hear? She's captain. A grounded quidditch captain. Gryffindor might as well forfeit the cup now."_

"Lils are you gonna just stand there forever or just until the train leaves the station?" Her Uncle George's voice pulled Lily away from the voices in her head. She shook her head, using the physical movement to clear her mind.

"Yeah…sorry." She couldn't stand on the literal another side forever. Lily pushed her trolley forward, through the barrier, stepping out onto platform 9 ¾ with Uncle George on her heels. It was as crowded as ever, the steam from the train fogging her view except for the things right in front of her. The familiar sounds of the platform filled her ears, as they wove through the crowd to put her trunk on the train. After cramming her trunk onto the train, she cradled the basket that held her cat, Padfoot (who was, Lily claimed, ironically named), in her arms and turned to her Uncle.

"Thank you for bringing me today. You didn't have to do that." George rolled his eyes and ruffled Lily's hair like her used to do when she was little.

"What was I supposed to do? Let my favorite niece go off to her last year of Hogwarts all on her lonesome," He shook his head as if he was disappointed in her, "Is that really what you think of me?"

Lily had always adored her Uncle George. When she was little sometimes her mum would leave her at the shop while she would run errands and Lily would spend hours talking about pranks with him or helping plan new products for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Her favorite times, however, were when George would tell her stories about his days in Hogwarts with Fred. They were the kings of mayhem he told her with a smile bittersweet smile. As she got older and entered into Hogwarts there was less time, but summers she spent as much as time as she could within the four walls of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

"I'm sorry your parents couldn't come to see you off Lils." George's tone took a more serious not.

Lily shrugged, "It's alright. They're busy. We said our goodbyes last night and I'll see them over fall break."

"Ah yes, I forgot they're giving you youngsters more holidays than classes these days."

Lily laughed, "I'm not complaining."

"I bet you're not." George snorted, pulling Lily in for a long hug, "Have a good last year Lils. If you run out of your supplies just owl me. Filibuster Fireworks, Nose Bleed Nugget, anything."

"I will." Lily pulled away, but her uncle held onto her arm for a second. She knew that he wanted to say something more. Something about quidditch. About the badge gleaming on her chest that you so clearly didn't want or deserve. But he didn't.

Instead, he just said, "Don't forget to owl your mum when you get to school." And waved her off towards the train.

The main corridor of the Hogwarts Express was packed with students. All of them pushing and shoving. Trying to find their friends or say goodbye to their families. Since her first year, Lily had always liked to pretend like it was that start of a bad romantic comedy. She, the heroin, ducked and weaved through the crowd of people, peering into compartments as she passed looking for her friends.

Enter next the heroin's goofy brainy sidekick.

"Lily!" Someone on Lily's right shouted. A door was flung open and out popped Maeve Randers.

Maeve was by far the cutest member of the quartet of friends that Lily had had since the first year. Standing at barely five foot, with a button nose, round face, corkscrew brown hair and freckles that rivaled even Lily's, adorable was the only word that could fit Maeve. Until she opened her mouth and then you could add on a whole other slew. Brilliant and the brightest witch of her time, were Maeve's preferred ones.

Maeve yanked Lily into the compartment, hugging her tightly the minute the door closed behind her.

There was a pause and then Lily felt Maeve feeling the back of her head. She had to admit, she was a little confused. After a moment of brief, frantic, patting. Maeve pushed Lily away and held her at arm's length by the shoulders.

"Where is all of your hair?" From her tone, Lily was unsure whether Maeve was accusing or questioning her. Probably a little of both.

"It's hair. It'll grow back."

"Lily! It's in a bob."

"I'm aware." Lily gave Maeve a mock hurt look, "What? Do you not like it?"

Immediately backtracking, the other girl shook her head vehemently, "No! It looks amazing. It's just so different. And you never mentioned it once in any of your owls. Merlin, what did your mother say?"

Dropping into one of the compartment seats, Lily sighed, "Nothing. Mum and Dad have both been walking on egg shells around me ever since we heard about the quidditch shit."

 _'The Quidditch Shit,'_ was how Lily referred to her fall, the week in St. Mungo's that followed it and then the summer days spent in physical therapy that came after that. All to find out that she couldn't ride a broom without severe discomfort and her body going into a panic of which it seemed she had no control. It took Lily a good four tries before her mum had banned her from any and all activities involving a broom. Unfortunately, this did not extend to sweeping.

In the few days after she had gotten the news, Lily had felt so out of control. So much had happened and so much was changing and there was so much she couldn't say or don't want to say and she had felt so incredibly out of control. Out of control wasn't something Lily did well. This cutting her hair. It was cliché, she knew, but it really had been one of the few things Lily had felt like she had control of. Shy of getting a tattoo or ridiculous piercing Lilt had felt like this was probably her best, non-maternal wrath-provoking, option.

The compartment door slid open and the third member of their little quartet stepped through the door, "I'm back bitching!" Sienna Zabini dropped her two bulging carry-on bags on the floor, threw her hands up in the air and gave Lily and Maeve a smile that would have had most of the male population on their knees before her, "Did you miss me?" She asked, flopping into the seat across from Lily.

"Yes, Si."

"Of course, we did." Lily and Maeve both laughed, shaking their heads at the dramatics they had been unwitting witnesses to since their first year.

Sienna never did anything small. From her dangerously sharp winged eyeliner, violently red lipstick and almost too short skirts, nothing about Si was subtle. Everything about her was emphasized, over exaggerated and never to be ignored. On some, her attitude might have been overwhelming, but Sienna wore it well.

"How did L.A treat you Si?" Maeve asked, giving her an openly envious look as Sienna stretched her tan supermodel length legs to the other side of compartment seats.

"It was dull. Daddy wouldn't let me go out without one of the staff and do you know how hard it is to go arm candy shopping with your butler two feet behind you?"

"The tragedy!" Lily exclaimed, playfully shoving Sienna's feet off the seat.

"The horror!" Maeve chimed in.

"Oh shut up the both of you." Sienna snapped, rolling her eyes, "So Lily I see Albus was indeed not lying, you did chop your lovely locks off?"

Lily raised an eyebrow, "Why were you owling, my brother?" She asked, slightly perturbed.

"Well you weren't answering my owls, were you? Desperate times. Desperate measures."

Whatever Lily's retort was going to be, it was cut off by the door sliding open once again, "Ellie!" All three girls shrieked, jumping up to swarm the last member of their quartet. Ellie Longbottom squealed right back opening her arms to hug all of them at once.

"Aww, you guys I've missed all of you so much!" She exclaimed, from the middle of their hug, "You guys remembered to say goodbye to your parents' right? Now don't look at me like that Sienna. Remember last year you just ran off onto the train and our mum sent you that howler? It's a valid question."

Ellie was conscious of the group. Whenever any of them said it Lily was sure people definitely didn't understand how serious they were. Sure Maeve may have been the heart, Sienna had the brains and Lily was the will power and the soul of the group, but without Ellie, they all would have been excommunicated or expelled years before. Lily shuddered to think what may have happened if they hadn't had Ellie's prefect charms on their side the past two years.

Speaking of prefect…

"Congrats on getting Head Girl." Lily told Ellie, "I mean, as a Potter, I am a tad ashamed to be friends with you. But still congrats."

Ellie cocked an eyebrow at the redhead, "Wasn't Al Head Boy?"

Lily shook her head mournfully, "Yes and for a good few months James and I discussed disowning him."

"Oh hush you." She gave Lily a bright smile, "Oh yeah, congrats on captain." She gestured to badge on Lily's robes. Lily gave her a tight, insincere smile.

"Thanks."

"So tell us Ells," Sienna drawled, "How is your dear Hugo?"

Relieved for the change in topic Lily chimed in, "Yeah how is my lovely cousin."

Ellie's face lit up like a Christmas tree. Curse those Longbottom-Abbott genes, "He's fine." She mumbled bashfully.

Ellie and Hugo had gotten together the last month of their sixth year. The only good thing to come out of that month in Lily's opinion. Both were still extremely bashful about the relationship. One Sunday afternoon, at the Burrow, Scorpius had casually asked Hugo about Ellie and he had nearly choked on his soup. Maeve had claimed it was endearing. Lily thought it was ridiculous. Sienna thought they should just bang already. When she had shared this little gem of advice to Ellie the poor girl had almost fainted. Two different approaches Lily supposed.

The rest of the train ride was filled with mindless chatter and Sienna catching the girls up on the latest gossip. Apparently Carissa Finnegan and Alexander McClaggen had had a nasty split mid-July but had been spotted going at it in the prefect's compartment this morning. And yes it was true that Heather Creevy got a nose job this summer. But no Jessica Brown was not pregnant. But that was only a kinda rumor because Sienna had heard that there was a pregnancy scare in August. It was amazing how to Lily how Sienna could be on a different continent the whole summer and still be more in the loop than the rest of them.

As the train pulled to a slow stop the four girls rose and followed the stream of students out on to Hogsmeade station. Before they stepped off the train Sienna, who was leading the group, stopped in the doorway, almost causing a very serious accident to all the students behind her.

"Just think girls. This is our last start of term train ride. We'll never do this again."

Lily rolled her eyes and gave Si a none to gentle shove, "Will you just shut up already and get out of the way? You're blocking traffic."  
Sienna huffed, "Well excuse me for trying to mark a milestone in our lives."

"Si, if you keep marking the last everything we do this year we're never gonna get anything done." Maeve, the ever practical, pointed out, "Now can we please find a carriage before we're stuck sharing with Dolohov and Nott?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys,**

 **Thanks for all the reviews, follows, favorites and reads! Each and every one of them makes me super happy! A special shout out to DaughterofTheHuntress. I was just about to go to bed after posting the first chapter and I saw your review and it made my night!**

 **Lily's story is going to switch POV's like Albus' did because I loved all the different opportunities it opened up. Also, it helped with my writer's block so that's always a plus. Sorry, this chapter is two weeks after the first one, I was having a hard time introducing and pushing forward with the storyline. That's why it's on the short side. I already have most of the third chapter written so that should be up on time nest Sunday.**

 **Anyways enough with my ramblings. On to the story…read, review enjoy.**

 **Love,**

 **TheWordsIWrite**

 **Chapter 2**

Shane Zabini was glad to be back. Glad to be back in the UK. Glad that his only company was no longer his twin sister. Glad to be back at Hogwarts. Glad to have his friends back. Glad to be back in his oh so familiar dorm room. Glad to be home. Don't get him wrong, America was nice, all that sunshine and shit, but there was nothing better than Scotland. Not to him anyways.

"I know you're busy with your inner monolog and all mate, but, when you get a minute, can you get up off your ass and helps us move this bed?" Shane lifted his head from its resting place on his hands just enough to give his best friend a despairing look.

"Are you a wizard or not Bash?"

Sebastian Gray was known for, among other things, being the biggest ladies' man Hogwarts had seen since Sirius Black, having Shane Zabini as a best friend and being the only by-product of a werewolf and a vampire in existence ever. He, however, was not known for his practicality. Shane had given up a long time ago trying to teach him. It was a simple fact, though a difficult one to understand, that Bash simply preferred to do things the hard way and liked to lecture others when they suggested taking "the easy way out."

"You can't use magic for everything Shane. We can be manly men and move a bed without the help of the crutches we call wands." Came the according lecture. Followed by a predictable eye roll from Shane who let his head thump back down onto his pillows, "Back me up here Rory!" Bash turned to their third roommate for backup.

A deep sigh echoed from the bed across the room from Shane. Rory Finnegan shifted his book just enough so his glasses poked out over the top, "Lads, every year we go through this argument and every year it ends the same way. So why don't you just get up off your arse Shane and speed the process along." Rory was truly the practical one of the group. He had a level head on his shoulders, probably from all the books he had read. Without him Shane and Bash would have gotten in signifgantly more trouble during their time at Hogwarts. They liked to think of him as their fairy godmother. Think being the key word. The one time Bash had let the nickname pass his lips he had been hanging upside down by his ankle for an hour.

Shane shook his head, "That would make it to easy Roar."

"Ah yes, and I forgot-"

"The Zabini's don't do easy." A fourth voice came from the doorway of the dorm room.

Hugo Weasley, Shane's third and final roommate, entered the room. He had his school bag with him despite the term having barely begun, though from the awkward bulges in the material Shane knew for certain that there were no books beneath the canvas. Well, he knew from that and also from the fact he had been the one to send Hugh on the alcohol recovery mission, to begin with.

"Did you get the goods?" Bash asked, bed moving argument momentarily forgotten.

Hugo simultaneously dropped the bag on his bed and reached out with his leg to kick the door shut. The boy was practically a fucking giraffe, Shane thought.

"'Course I did." Hugo grinned at his roommates, "Now let's get this shit started shall we."

"Why all the language?" Rory asked, "And why must we have alcohol? And move the beds? And, actually, why must we do this at all?"

Shane unfolded himself from his bed, taking his wand from behind his ear, "You are such a killjoy Finnegan. You know that?" He flicked his wand muttering a spell underneath his breath. A moment later the four poster beds formed a square in the middle of the room, with all their pillows and blankets on the floor in the middle forming a nice nest.

"And, to answer your question, we do this cause it's tradition. We've done this since the first year. It would be a crime to not do it our last year."

"I think you and I have definitions of the word crime."

"Roar stop being such a downer." Hugo hurled a pillow across the room at Rory. It collided with a thunk, knocking Rory's book from his hands.

There was a pause. All three boy's eyes stayed on Rory, who took a deep breath and calmly turned around to face Hugo, "Did you just throw a pillow at me?" He asked slowly. His hand reached behind him, searching the bed as he spoke, "Because here I was thinking we are all seventeen-year-old men." Rory's hand latched onto what he was looking for and he swung, his heavy Hogwarts issued pillow colliding with Hugo's side, "But…if…you…wanna…act like...twelve…year…old…girls…at a…slumber…party…I'm…game." He permeated each word with a blow from his pillow. Poor Hugo, who had already thrown his across the room, couldn't do much but try and block Rory's blows.

"Should we help him?" Shane murmured out of the corner of his mouth to Bash.

"You'd think Hugh would be able to defend himself, being four inches taller than Rory and all." The other boy said matching Shane's hushed tone. They stood there for another minute, watching Rory batter Hugo, "Okay. It's only fair we step in."

A moment later Shane had tossed Hugo his pillow and all four boys were engaged in a heated pillow fight. Bash got a good swing in, knocking Shane, who had been standing on Hugo's bed, clear on his arse. They were whooping and cursing loudly enough that none of them noticed their dorm room door slowly creaking open.

"Ahem," The intruder coughed and all the boys jumped in surprise. Unfortunately, for Shane, this meant Sebastian landed heavily on top of him.

"Shiiiittttt." The curse coming out in a puff of air, "What the fuck do you want Sienna?" Shane asked through eyes closed in pain. Bash's lean build hid it but Merlin's beard was he heavy.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your…slumber party," Though her words were apologetic, Sienna's tone and cat like smile spoke volumes about their insincerity, "But mum seems to have given me the wrong care package. And I want my chocolate cauldrons."

Shoving Bash off of him, Shane stood, "You know there's this thing called knocking." He grumbled walking over to his trunk.

"I did. You boys were just giggling to loud to here."

"We do not giggle!" Bash sounded outraged, but the red tint to his face spoke more to his embarrassment.

"Sure you don't Seb." Sienna soothed her brother's disgruntled best friend.

"Don't call me Seb."

"Will you two just quit squabbling?" Rory sighed from his place spread eagle on the floor, "I know it's you two's 'thing' or whatever, but it's the first say of the year."

Sienna scoffed, "Seb, here and I don't squabble. I tease him mercilessly and watch Hogwarts biggest ladies' man squirm."

"Found them," Shane exclaimed heading off the foreseeable argument. He held the mint green and gold wrapped box in one hand like it was the quidditch cup. You think their mother would be able to put the right box in the right trunk after seven years. It's not even like she had to make them. The house elves did that. No, all she had to do was put them in the proper trunk. They were even color coded for Merlin's sake. Mint green for Sienna and navy blue for Shane. Absent-mindedness their father called it, Shane rather thought it was Jessica Zabini's lack of interest in anything regarding her children.

"Thank you!" Sienna snatched her box from him, tossing him the navy blue one, "Now do you, boys, care to explain why it looks as if your setting up a pillow-"

"SiSi?"Another voice, a female voice, rang down the boys' corridor, "Sienna the girls say hurry up. They want chocolate."

Shane turned around from setting his box in his trunk just in time to see Lily Potter step through the doorway. She looked just like she had last year, almost, he was pretty sure her arse had gotten bigger. Something else was missing too, but he couldn't put his finger on it. The captain's badge pinned to her chest was definitely new, but that wasn't it. It wasn't even the feeling of resentment it raised in Shane. He was used to feeling that when it came to Potter/

"Lily flower." Shane's greeting came a moment too late to be considered welcoming. His tone just a little too taunting to be polite.

"Boys," Lily said coolly, her eyes obviously taking in the disheveled room and the bottles of fire whiskey that were poking out from Hugo's bag, "Having fun are we?"

"They're having a slumber party." Sienna exclaimed gleefully, "Complete with a blanket fort and alcohol. I wouldn't be surprised if they smuggled up some treacle tart from the feast."

"Are they now?" A smirk tugged at the corner of Potter's lip, "Hugh are you holding out on me with the tart?"

Hugo opened his mouth to answer, but one scowl from Shane and he had closed it again. "Lily flower, are you quite done here? Hesitate any longer and I may begin to think you're in my bedroom for other reasons." Shane smirked, raising his eyes to meet Lily's. She kept his gaze. Something was still different. What in Merlin's name was it?

Lily's lips pursed in obvious disgust, "You're foul Zabini. I just came for Sienna." She raised her eyebrows at the other girl, "You good?"

"Absolutely peachy," Sienna said, making her way back through the room. Her hand snaking out to snag two bottles of fire whiskey as she passed Hugo's bed, "Let's go."

"Hey, those are ours!" Hugh called after the two girls, but all he got in response was the slam of the dorm room door.

The girls' departure left silence in its wake. Hugo mourning the loss of two of his six bottles of fire whiskey. Rory having already turned back to his book. Bash scowling, as he always did when Sienna had been around. And Shane leaning against his bedpost, baffled, his mind trying to pull out exactly what was different about Lily Potter and why he cared.

"C'mon lads," There was a thunk and everyone looked up to see Rory had dropped his book. A sight that was practically unheard of, "We've got the shit all set up. Might as well get some use out of it."

"Rory I don't think I've ever heard you sound so enthusiastic." Hugo teased, reaching into his bad tossing out the remaining bottles of fire whiskey.

Shane looked around at his three best friends. He was glad to be back because after this year there would be no back. Not for them. Not to Hogwarts at least.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hey Guys,**_

 _ **So it looks like the update schedule that's gonna end up working best for me is every other week. It's a bit longer between updates than I wanted, but between two jobs and college starting up next month once a week just isn't gonna happen.**_

 _ **Anyways here's the next chapter for y'all. Hope you like it.**_

 _ **Love,**_

 _ **TheWordsIWrite**_

 **Chapter 3**

When Lily received her schedule the next morning she had already decided the day was not going to be a good one. First of all she had woken up thirty minutes later than intended, which made her miss her morning run. Strike one for a good day. Then she had drifted back to sleep and by the time she woke up there was no time to shower before breakfast. Strike two for a good day. After that, half way down to the great hall, Peeves had shot a wad of chewed up gum into her hair. Strike three and you're out. But when she saw her schedule, with double potions, her favorite class, she had thought maybe, just maybe, she had been wrong about the omens of a terrible awful day. Turns out she hadn't been.

It was only five minutes into class and Lily already found her inner monolog, or more accurately, inner rant, going full steam ahead.

She liked to think herself a very reasonable person. She liked to think that she was not one to over react. She liked to think that she was mature enough to handle most things that came my way. But this, this was just ridiculous.

"No." was the only word that seemed able to come out of her mouth as she stared at the dark haired boy sitting next to her. The dungeons lighting was fairly dim but not dark enough that she was unable to see the smirk on his face, "No fucking way."

"Be careful Lily flower such foul language might taint your reputation."

She couldn't do it, "Prof. Carrizo," She called, "Prof. Carrizo." Her favorite teacher, though after the decision he had made today Lily was reconsidering that title, turned around.

"Yes Lily, dear, is there a problem."

Is there a problem! Is there a problem? He had stuck her with an incompetent tool who should not be in NEWT potions classes but rather a primary school. Yes there was a problem!

"He can't be my partner." She said louder than originally intended. The whole class, well all eight of them, was now staring at her. Bully.

Prof. Carrizo, bless his oblivious heart, actually looked confused, "Why ever not?" He asked with the utmost sincerity of someone who truly hadn't a clue what Lily was on about, "Is there a problem with Mr. Zabinin?"

Lily stuttered for a second as all the things that were wrong with Shane and reasons why she could never possibly be his partner came to mind. There were a lot of them. It was slightly over whelming. Unfortunately while she was trying to pick only one reason why this buffoon was unfit to be her shoe shiner let alone her potions partner the boy in question spoke up.

"Because, professor, Lily here is still afraid of cooties."

This raised a low murmur of laughter from the class and even Prof. Carizzo smiled. Yep, that's it, he was definitely no longer her favorite professor.

"Professor." Lily pleaded in an effort to change what was as good as a death sentence to her stellar potions grade.

"Well, Lily if you feel so strongly about this I suppose I could pair you with Mr. Roberts. He had requested too work alone this year but I don't think he'd mind."

All eyes turned to Roberts now. He looked up through his curly blonde hair. Their eyes met for a second before Lily looked away, pulse racing, feeling as if ice had been injected into her veins, "No that's quite alright." She murmured and took her seat again.

"Well alright then," Prof. Carrizo clapped his hands together and turned to the black board. He waves his wand instructions scrawl across the board.

By now all of them had been in potions long enough to know what to do and soon there was the low murmur that is associated with any class while the students are hard at work humming about the classroom.

Lily took a deep breath. Turning her seat away from Roberts and unintentionally towards her new partner, "I can do all the work. Merlin knows I don't need you sinking my grade this year of all years." She told him in an icy tone.

"Have you considered, Lily Flower, that I am in this class because I passed my OWLs just like you did," Shane asked, that petulant smirk still in place.

Truth be told Lily had not considered that.

"Or," Shane continued, "That this pairing is not to my liking either. I mean what fun is it working with the girl who walks around as if she has a stick stuck up her arse. Hmm?"

Lily really really wanted to slap him. Really. But she didn't. Prof. Carrizo may have loved her but he would still give her detention and Lily couldn't afford to get one of those so soon in the school year. Her mother would have her head, not to mention her broom.

"Let's just get to work."

"Excellent idea." He said, clapping his hands together and picking up his wand.  
Lily fought the urge to groan. Could her day get any worse?

Later that night at dinner Ellie, Lily, Sienna and Maeve were all seated around Gryffindor table. It was the first year they hadn't had all of their classes together and thus a rehashing of the day had been needed. Lily especially needed to talk, okay maybe it was more like rant, about the events of her horrendous first day back. However, instead of the unwavering sympathy she had expected, Ellie had come up with this wonderful gem of a statement:

"Honestly I have no idea why you hate him so much."

Ellie, Lily, Sienna and Maeve were all seated around Gryffindor table. It was the first year they hadn't had all of their classes together and thus a rehashing of the day had been needed. Lily especially needed to talk, okay maybe it was more like rant, about the events of her horrendous first day back. However, instead of the unwavering sympathy she had expected, Ellie had come up with this wonderful gem of a statement.

"I get it." Sienna said, gesturing at Ellie with the piece of chicken she had just impaled on her fork, "He's a raging asshole. Always has been."

"He's your brother!" Ellie said in disbelief.

"Your point?" Sienna raised her eyebrow at the blonde girl, "He's my brother. _And_ he's a raging asshole. Especially to Lily. Don't you remember first year when he used that sticking charm to glue her hair to the sofa."

"Or second year," Maeve piped up helpfully, "When he and Bash charmed her cauldron so it would explode whenever she tried to make a potion?" Maeve pitched in helpfully.

"Or third year when he got ahold of her journal and posted that poem about Brett Mclaggen."  
Lily buried her head in her hands, groaning, "Can we not rehash every horror of my Hogwarts year."

Ellie nodded in agreement, "Yes, Lily here has a point, let us rehash all the things she has done to Shane. Let's start with third year, after he posted the poem, you jinxed his broom to come to a screeching halt whenever he went over 15mph. Which resulted in his spending a week in the hospital wing."

"He deser-"

"OR fourth year when you charmed his face to break out in purple pustules whenever he said the word bird, chic or Mamacita."

"He told Jacob Wood I had herpes!" Lily exclaimed indignantly.

"Yeah, but Wood knows Shane's full of it." Yes, Ellie may have been right about that, but that wasn't the point, "And how about the year you told Willow that Shane had a fire whiskey problem and he didn't make it on the team? I believe that wasn't provoked."

Okay, maybe that had been overkill. But it was a preemptive strike and after all, Zabini had done to her a preemptive strike seemed reasonable, "He made it onto the team." Lily grumbled.

"Into the reserves," Ellie said shrewdly.

Lily looked over at Ellie, trying her hardest to keep the annoyance off of her face, "What are you trying to get at here Ells?"

"Well, Lils, I'm just saying we're all adults now. So maybe we should put all this petty stuff behind us. I really don't want to spend the next year in potions watching you and Shane bicker. It's exhausting, even just to observe."

"I can't help it Carizzo paired him with me!"

Ellie took a bit of her dinner and chewed before continuing with her miny lecture, "Honestly I don't understand why you didn't just take Roberts as your partner if you despise Shane so much."

Lily faltered. She hadn't expected Ellie to take that route. Grant it, she didn't know. How could she? It's not like Lily told anyone. Still, hearing his name made all of Lily's limbs cramp. Not like a charlie horse cramp, but like that period cramp, the one where every move hurts and it doesn't go away by stretching it out. For a second Lily was back on her broom at the end of last year, the bludger spinning towards her-

"Lily? Lils?"

Maeve's voice snapped Lily out of her thoughts, "Sorry." She mumbled

"What happened?" Sienna asked, concern tinging the brunette's voice, "You just-"

Before Sienna could finish her statement she was cut off by a voice calling out from a few feet away.

"LILY!" Her cousin Hugo called, as he walked over from the other end of the table, flanked by Rory, Shane and Bash. Merlin, wasn't two hours of torturing her enough for the day. Lily groaned loudly and dropped her head onto the table with an audible thump. She decided that she really didn't like people. Particularly people who were related to her. Why did her grandparents feel the need to breed like rabbits? Weren't contraceptive spells a thing back then?

"LILY! LILY! LILY!" Hugo sing songed, ignoring the fact that his cousin clearly didn't want to have anything to do with him right now.

Still with her head on the table, Lily felt Hugo wedge himself onto the bench between her and Sienna. There was a squawk of protest, presumably from Sienna. This squawk was followed by several others, which caused Lily to deduce that the boys had wedged themselves into the seat around the girls. Still she didn't look up. If she pretended they weren't there, then maybe they'd just go away. Okay, it was a ridiculous theory, but Lily didn't have any better ideas right now. Mentally she began reciting prime numbers in her head. She got to seven before Hugo's shaking of her shoulder pissed her off enough to make her sit up.

"What, in the name of Merlin's saggy pants, do you need from me, Hugo?"

Hugo recoiled a bit. Good. He should be scared, "Well the lads and I were just wondering when we were gonna hold quidditch tryouts. I mean I know the season doesn't officially start for another two weeks, but we wanna have everything all sorted out by them obviously. Obviously Wood, Thomas and Keller graduated so we need a new seeker and two new chasers. Plus we need to restock the reserves. And…uh…I suppose we'll need a new keeper as well."

Merlin why hadn't McGonagall just made Hugo quidditch captain. He had his shit together. He'd practically been co-captain with Willow in his fifth year. It would have been so much better than the pity line she'd thrown to Lily. Did she want Gryffindor to lose the cup?

Either way, it was frustrating. So, maybe it was annoyance at the pity she felt she was being given or maybe it was just the foul mood she was in, but Lily found herself saying:

"Actually Hugh we're gonna need to hold tryouts for all positions."

The reaction was instantaneous and satisfying. Hugo's jaw dropped, Bash stopped the argument he had been having with Sienna (Lily swore the two of them were just as bad as her and Shane) to gape at her and Shane dropped the roll he had been buttering.

"You can't be serious!"

"Are you mad?"

"What's your fucking problem?"

The boys all shouted at Lily at once. Rory, Sienna, Maeve and Ellie, the nonquidditch players of the group, stayed quiet. Well except for Sienna that is, she had never been one to understand the value of silence.

"It's just a game boys, calm yourselves."

The uproar was almost as instantaneous as it had been a moment ago. Lily waited. Once the trio was done shouting down Sienna's ridiculous statement she held up her hand to hold back further outrage.

"We need new blood. Gryffindor's team has predominantly been made up the same four or five families for like the past 10 years. And yes, my family has been two of those, but the point still stands. We've had more infractions, benchings and injuries in the past decade than in the past fifteen years. Maybe if you guys are forced to earn a place on the team then there'll be more appreciation for your spot."

Maybe it was a load of bullshit Lily had made up on the spot. Well expect for the injuries, infractions and benchings part, that she'd looked up after her own injury. But she had made the proclamation, so she had to back it up. And as the words had come out of her mouth they had started to sound like they had a point. See, this not thinking through thing did work in her favor, Lily had no idea what her mother was always on about.

"You mean like you did?" Zabini's tone was quiet like it only ever was when he was really, really pissed off. Such as when Lily had got him stuck in the reserves their fifth year.

Lily blinked at him, "Huh?"

"You mean like you earned you position as captain?" Their little group fell silent as Lily and Zabini stared at each other.

The words stung, but Lily would be damned if she'd ever let him know it, "I've played on the Gryffindor team since third year. I earned my spot." She hoped that if she put enough loathing behind the words then they would sound like she meant them.

Zabini snorted, "You can't even get on a broom Potter, how are you supposed to coach?"

Good question. One Lily had yet to find an answer to herself. Let alone one to share with him.

"Those who can't do teach." Maeve snapped, coming to Lily's rescue, "It's not Lily's fault she can't fly anymore. So stop being a dick and wait for the tryout date to be posted like everyone else."

Lily was fairly certain, in this moment, she loved Maeve more than she had ever loved anyone in her life. Quiet, unobtrusive Maeve. Lily thought Zabini was gonna die of shock from her outburst. Maeve took this opportunity to stand up abruptly from the table, glare at Sienna, Ellie and Lily to let them know she expected them to join her in her storm out, and then turn on her heel and flounce out of the great hall. Yes, actual flounce-age. Lily didn't think she'd ever been more proud.

Once the quartet had cleared the second set of stairs, Sienna turned to Maeve in astonishment, "Did I just hear you call my brother a dick?"

Maeve flushed, muttering unintelligibly.

"Because if so, and I'm not just going plain batty, then that is the single greatest thing I have ever heard."

Maeve blushed even harder and continued her walk up the stairs, "Well he was being one." The three other girls had to bite back their laughter as they followed her up the stairs.

Lily had to stop after the fourth landing. Her back ached, where her vertebrae had been fractured and her knee seemed to be pulsating with pain. Leaning against the wall she took a deep breath, squeezing her eyes and letting it out. After a couple more of these she opened her eyes to see three sets of concerned eyes staring at her.

"Go on up guys, I'll be right behind you." She said, trying to blow it off. Lily hated attention when she was in pain or struggling.

The three other girls shared a concerned look. Bully.

"Are you sure?" Ellie hesitated, biting her lip in the way she only did when she was worried or nervous.

A tight smile was all Lily could manage, "Yeah I'm fine. Really guys if we're all gonna stop whenever I get a few aches and pains we'll never get anywhere."

Her humor did nothing to curve her friends worry. Lily looked pleadingly to Sienna, of all of the girls she would understand, "C'mon girls, if Lily says she'll be fine. She'll be fine." Si linked her arms with Ellie's and Maeve's and practically pulled the two girls up the next set of stairs.

Thank Merlin. Lily slid to the floor, digging through her school bag to find her wand. Why did she never clean this thing out? It made it impossible to find anything. Finally, her hands grasped her wand. Waving it in an upward clockwise moment, Lily murmured, "Dolorem." The pain relieving spell her physical therapist had taught her. At first, it felt like warm water was being poured over her knee, but then the pain ebbed.

After she'd cast the charm a couple more times Lily felt like she could make it up the remaining stairs. She had always loved the fact that Gryffindor tower was so high up, away from the other goings on of the castle. This year, however, she was fairly certain stopping every couple flights of stairs was gonna get old real fast.

By the time she reached the common room the other girls were all spread out in their usual spot in the far corner of the common room. They had pulled four of the massive, threadbare arm chairs over and all seemed to be working on the homework that had been assigned that day. Except for Sienna. She was reading Witch Weekly.

"Lils!" Ellie exclaimed when she saw their red-headed friend, a little too enthusiastically Lily, though. But after the summer of sympathetic looks and grating cheerfulness, she was used to it, "A letter came for you."

Collapsing into the open arm chair, Lily took the letter from Ellie, giving her a genuine smile of thanks.

 _Sister Dearest,_

 _I hear you've made it a whole day back at Hogwarts without cause a national incident of some sort. I must say I'm a little bit disappointed. I look forward to mum rant and rave into your annual howler. I suppose, as a prospective parent myself, I should be a tad more understanding of her point of view. Ah well. We'll save that for when the little lad is old enough to actually cause trouble, lots of trouble if he takes after this parents._

 _Oh yeah, the point of this letter. Yes, Maci and I are in fact having a little lad. We found out this morning. I know we said we were gonna wait till the little thing popped out, but you know Maci she's impatient and the hormones were definitely not helping. Mum is absolutely over the moon. Truth be told I think Mace is glad it's a boy. She's been surrounded by boys all her life, except for Dom that is, and I don't think she'd know what to do with a girl if she had one. Don't tell her I said that though. She'd be a wonderful mum regardless._

 _Nothing else has really transpired since you left yesterday. Except Dom and Chase's little munchkin said her first sentence. We were all sitting around the living room and Theodora just comes toddling right up to Maci, points to her belly and goes "It's a purple dinosaur." Except Dinosaur sounded more like deen-a-sor. I don't know why on earth you'd care about that, but Maci told me to put it in and as you know I am a slave to my wife's whims ever since she became the size of a whale._

 _Anyways, hope your first day back was wonderful and all that shit. Don't forget to write. I'm reliving my youth vicariously through you now that I'm about to become a crotchety father._

 _Love,_

 _James_

Lily tilted her head back against the chair, smiling. She was gonna have a nephew! She grinned, the first real grin since she'd gotten off the train yesterday. Digging a quill and piece of parchment out of her bag Lily began to pen her response.

-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-

How'd y'all feel about the James appearance Okay, not appearance, I guess update would be a more appropriate word. He and Maci are having a baby! Eeeee! I sense a one-shot coming up. Doesn't it seem like just yesterday they were shouting at each other over missed quidditch practices? Agh, my babies have all grown up. Okay I'm done now. Hope you guys loved this chapter!

 **Let's try and get it to ten reviews before I update next week? It only takes a couple seconds to review! Thanks so much. Love you all!**


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